The recommissioning of the 10,000hP Cutter Suction Dredge Eastern Aurora, owned by the largest Australian owned dredging contractor Hall Contracting Pty Ltd, has been finalised with successful sea trials off Batam, Indonesia.
The sea trial involved running all systems on board at capacity at a location off the coast. Hall Contracting Director, Brian Hall , was pleased with the outcome. “ The sea trials met all our expectations. The rebuild has been a first class operation overseen by our Australian and Dutch engineers, and we now proudly boast a formidable medium sized cutter suction dredge in our fleet. In Taiwan she was used to pump material over 12km. With all three pumps in series working on Friday, it is easy to see how she achieved this.”
Over the past 10 months, Hall has completely refit the Eastern Aurora at PT WorldWide shipyard in Batam and converted her from a suction dredge to a medium sized CSD. Originally built by IHC Holland in 1994 to work off the coast of Taiwan in seas up to Hs = 2.75m, Hall Contracting commissioned naval engineers to carry out a comprehensive Finite Element Analysis and redesign to make her into a cutter suction dredge.
The strengthening and refit has resulted is a very strong medium sized cutter dredge, complete with integrated spud carrier, anchor booms, live aboard accommodation and 1200kW cutter capacity. Significantly she has high freeboard of over 2.2m, plus 900mm high bulwarks, making her suitable for sea towing and working in exposed areas.
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Dredging Today Staff, November 23, 2011; Image: Hall Contracting Pty Ltd